Thais from every walk of life frequent Bangkok’s multifarious entertainment options. But the core of the city’s notorious nightlife was born over thirty years ago in Patpong, on Silom Road. The time has come to get the unlock backlog of expat nightlife instincts out of my system while in Bangkok. For those of you hoping for torrid accounts of my throwing money at girls in their late teens contorting themselves around chrome plated poles and themselves for my pleasure, you will be rather disappointed. I am an outsider who takes a peek in to learn, not to indulge. A self-contained facility of beer bars, tacky market stalls of mundane merchandise, and the infamous go-go bars bathed in multicolored neon lights, Patpong needs no further explanation. My tuk-tuk driver pointed out what he thought I wanted to ... read more

Bangkok is a frenetic urban steam bath of shops, food stalls, and markets sheltered by a growing glossy skyline. Its historical welcome center for its ex-patriot counterculture is Khao San Road, a Walt-Mart Supercenter of backpacker frugality. Whatever you heard about Khao San, some of it is probably true: soulless, a Caucasian ghetto, substandard guesthouses for budgetarily challenged twentynothings. A singular street supported by a few alleyways and covered corridors in its vicinity, Khao San is a foreigners’ prison of British pop tunes where the inmates remain voluntarily. All the appropriate infrastructure is provided. Touts insistently peddle nightclubs, but refrain from going overboard as the tourist police keep a watchful eye so as not to disturb the contributors that keep the neighborhood prosperous. Travel agencies, tailor shops, massage parlors, cheap eateries and ex... read more

It is said that no one from West Texas appreciates outsiders telling them what to do or assigning them an identity that has already been well-established for decades. It is the genesis of an inflated pride that covers this mammoth state from El Paso to Texarkana. Many, like me consider such boasting simply naïve delusions of grandeur. Where southeast New Mexico is nonchalantly considered a suburb of the obvious, it is hard to imagine that a single state can be bigger in the minds of its admirers than its geographic parameters. My home state could easily fit into one of its lesser-known counties, but with exponentially more inhabitants. As the South Central plains evolve into the foothills and buttes of the American Southwest, lonely farm windmills pump scarce water. They stand as silent sentinels before rising ... read more

West Virginians are an affable and approachable bunch. So, coming from grumpy and aloof New England, I needed time to make the adjustment. However informal they are in appearance, the hospitality more than compensates. The mountain twang of their accent leaves me on the verge of letting out a violent chuckle. Conversations are prolonged, and many have taken in genuine interest in me and my visit here. The Mountain Laurel Restaurant in Fayetteville is under new management and undergoing renovations. Locals come and go during lunch and dinner. As I sat down at the bar and glanced at the menu, the owner came up to, welcomed, and invited me back for dinner, not having eaten lunch yet. That was before I got his name. Sean is a partner in the business and did not hesitate to ... read more

West Virginia is a place apart, mildly forgotten as it is lodged between more noticeable states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. West Virginia has already established its own unpolished identity, no longer interested in being just the western version of its eastern and more refined counterpart by the same name. Only a full day’s drive from New England, it is a state comfortable with itself, however injurious the stereotypes it has had to endure. It will take very little time to realize that West Virginia is far cry from a clan of self-described ignorant hillbillies that are all related to each other. Up and coming, it is of inaccessible valleys and rock face drenched in American history. West Virginia constantly struggles between preserving the charm of its slow-paced, rural lifestyle and prospering in an ever-changing 21st century. ... read more